The funeral service for Gladys M. (Grant) Gunderson, of Albert Lea, will be held 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25, at the First Lutheran Church in Albert Lea. The Rev. John Holt will officiate. Interment will be 10 a.m. Thursday at Graceland Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bonnerup Funeral Service, Albert Lea, and one hour before the service at the church.

Gladys was born Feb. 9, 1911, in Saskatchewan, Canada, the daughter of Arthur D. and Clara (Blanchard) Grant. Her family moved to Minnesota and she graduated from Faribault High School. She attended Mankato State College and received a degree from the Primary Kindergarten Department. She found volunteering at camps for the underprivileged very rewarding. She was teaching and also serving as principal at Geneva Elementary School in Geneva when she met Joseph R. Gunderson. Joseph and Gladys were married on June 1, 1940. Three children were born to this union: Sonja, John and Jean.

Throughout her life Gladys had been very active in civic and church affairs, and had done a considerable amount of volunteer work.

She was a member of P.E.O. (Chapter CV), Tuesday Literary Club, Friends of the Library, Civic Music, W.I.G. (Women’s Investment Group), and the Hospital Auxiliary. She was a member of the First Lutheran Church where she had served as Sunday School teacher for many years and was active in Mission Circle No. 9.

She found joy in many things including watching sunsets, traveling with Joe to Norway, but most importantly being the perfect hostess, making everyone feel comfortable and at ease, no matter where you met her.

Gladys died at her home on Wednesday, August 18, 2004. She was 93.

She will be greatly missed by her family: daughter, Sonja and her husband David Sanders of Pekin, Ill., and their two children: Grant and his wife Catherine and their daughter Ann of Saipan, and Sara Sanders and her husband JR Kenlin and their daughter Adeline of North Liberty, Iowa; son, John Gunderson and his wife Margaret of Detroit Lakes, Minn.; a sister, Edith and her husband Austin Sanderson of California; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; daughter, Jean, who died in 1956; husband, Joseph, in 1992; and a brother, Merle Grant.

The family suggests memorials to: First Lutheran Peace and Power, St. Olaf College, or Cottey College, Nevada, Mo. (a P.E.O. project).